06-13-2004, 04:54 PM

Hello All!

This is my first post on this forum, although I've been browsing it for around a month, and I must say, you people seem to be one of the frendliest communities I've seen on the Net so far.

I live in Moscow, Russia, as you can see from my profile here, but dealing with International online education I happen to travel a lot. In two days I will be going to NY and I plan to get myself a 17" PB, loaded wth max. RAM and also buy the whole bunch of accessories and software for my new PB. (As for now, I plan to get it in SoHo Apple Store).This eventually will be my first Mac, so you can call me "almost a switcher", in the meantime.

Just to make it clear: i am not getting my Powerbook here since there is almost $800 difference in the price, and even though they seem to import Apple stuff legally, there is no offical Apple represenative in this country and, as far as I know the Worldwide garrantee seem to have no effect, if something just goes wrong.

Now, reading the forum, I found that there are plenty of problems with new Powerbooks - starting with bad screens and ending with damaged harddrives... This weakens the strength of my decision to go for a PB!!!

Can you advise me on the following:
1. Is it true that there is almost every new PB has hardware issues that cannot be solved without the Service Center involvement? :confused:
2. Do you think I just should give up the idea of bying a PB? :eek:
3. If you think, I still should get one - what suggestions can you give me, so I could elliminate different posible problems, e.g. what should be checked in the store, any particular things I should pay attention to etc.? :rolleyes:

Your replies will be highly appreciated.

TIA,

Abra

06-13-2004, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Abra

Can you advise me on the following:
1. Is it true that there is almost every new PB has hardware issues that cannot be solved without the Service Center involvement? :confused:
2. Do you think I just should give up the idea of bying a PB? :eek:
3. If you think, I still should get one - what suggestions can you give me, so I could elliminate different posible problems, e.g. what should be checked in the store, any particular things I should pay attention to etc.? :rolleyes:

Hi Abra.

1. Definitely not true. Apple sells thousands of PB's, and if almost every one had a problem, people would eventually stop buying them, and you'd hear about it much more. The fact is, there is a much greater percentage of people who go to online forums for help with their problems than people who simply join and say how wonderful their new machines are. Because of this, we hear/see many more "My PB has a problem" posts than "My PB is the most fantastic thing I've ever seen" posts. That being said, certain models seem to have shown more problems than others (such as the 15" PB's from a few months back), but I don't think latest versions of any of the PB's have demonstrated an unusually large amount of problems or defects.

2. Not at all! The PB will be a wonderful machine and a great way to introduce yourself to the world of Macintosh.

3. Well, first I'd check out the screen. Pay special attention while it's starting up and the screen is all grey, so that you can easily pick out any "lit" or "dead" pixels. Then try things such as closing the lid while the machine is on to make sure it sleeps, and then opening it to make sure it wakes up properly. Also do this by using the power button instead of closing the lid. The only other things I can think of that you might want to check out would be to try typing something using every key, to make sure they all work, and then playing some sort of music to be sure that there are no problems with sound. Don't let all of this scare you though, the chances are very good that you'll have no problem at all and you'll absolutely love your PB.

06-13-2004, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by Padawan

Hi Abra.

1. Definitely not true. Apple sells thousands of PB's, and if almost every one had a problem, people would eventually stop buying them, and you'd hear about it much more. The fact is, there is a much greater percentage of people who go to online forums for help with their problems than people who simply join and say how wonderful their new machines are. Because of this, we hear/see many more "My PB has a problem" posts than "My PB is the most fantastic thing I've ever seen" posts. That being said, certain models seem to have shown more problems than others (such as the 15" PB's from a few months back), but I don't think latest versions of any of the PB's have demonstrated an unusually large amount of problems or defects.

2. Not at all! The PB will be a wonderful machine and a great way to introduce yourself to the world of Macintosh.

3. Well, first I'd check out the screen. Pay special attention while it's starting up and the screen is all grey, so that you can easily pick out any "lit" or "dead" pixels. Then try things such as closing the lid while the machine is on to make sure it sleeps, and then opening it to make sure it wakes up properly. Also do this by using the power button instead of closing the lid. The only other things I can think of that you might want to check out would be to try typing something using every key, to make sure they all work, and then playing some sort of music to be sure that there are no problems with sound. Don't let all of this scare you though, the chances are very good that you'll have no problem at all and you'll absolutely love your PB.

Thanks a lot, Padawan, for your quick and informative reply!

Any other thougts, ideas, recommendations anyone?

06-13-2004, 06:00 PM

The screen problems were mostly percenstent witht the 2nd gen Aluminium 15" pb's. The new ones have supposedly gotten rid of the problem..I've heard of no one really having any problems since. I have a 12" pb, and it's great; you'll love the 17"

06-13-2004, 08:35 PM

I just bought myself a new 15" powerbook. I have been using it for a while, and no problems at all. It works flawlessly for me.

06-13-2004, 09:38 PM

Hey~

I had a 12" powerbook shipped to me in Klaipeda, Lithuania. I used it all over Eastern Europe, including several areas in Russia (St. Petersburg and Moscow mostly). I never had a problem with it. I don't know how much you get to the Baltics, but there is an Apple dealer (although small) in Vilnius, Lithuania. I highly recommend getting the "world traveler" pack from apple, as you don't need to carry around a power converter with your computer, it is very nice, you just have to slide off the plug ending, slide on the one that you need and plug it in. Fantastic and useful device, well worth the money. As I'm sure you know, the mac software so readily available in Moscow (and most of Eastern Europe) can be a little spooky, and sometimes just not right.

hope this helps a little,
maikutis

06-14-2004, 12:54 AM

Thank you lots, everyone!

Just woke up and went to see your replies

Tomorrow I am going to NY, hopefully I'll get my PB till the end og this week - just cannot wait!!!

Tanks again,
Abra

06-14-2004, 01:25 PM

I can only offer my personal experience...and that is, out of 3 Powerbook purchases, all of them had to be returned for replacements. The replacements however, all worked fine. Still, that's a 100% failure rate. Not good.

06-22-2004, 11:27 AM

Hello everyone!

Just got my new 17" PB form the Apple Store in SoHo, NY. It is absolutely amazing! I think there is no other notebook can be compared to this masterpiece... this is a real designer piece of art... I cannot get, how I did not buy one long ago... No words to describe my happiness!!!

Thank you everybody who encouraged me with their advices!

Abra

06-23-2004, 01:11 PM

Congrats Abra!

I just got my 15" PB on Monday and am still learning how to use it effectively! Great little tool, isn't it!

06-23-2004, 02:07 PM

Do you have Mac janitor or would you like to know how to run cron tasks manually?

06-23-2004, 02:30 PM

Mac janitor rocks...

Now I just need to figure out how to see \ change the jobs.

06-23-2004, 08:09 PM

Macaroni is better than Mac Janitor, in that if *automatically* does all of that... Once you download it, you simply install it, and then forget about all of that stuff....It's def. worth the $8.99...Next time you are going to go get a coffee, don't.....Now you just paid for it!

06-23-2004, 08:49 PM

Of course, OS X does it automatically at around 3 to 5 AM.

06-23-2004, 10:52 PM

$8.99 for a coffee? damn...

:rolleyes: